CCIW Student-Athlete Spotlight (July 2020)
Each month, the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) will highlight the accomplishments of a conference student-athlete. This month, we look into the career of North Park graduated softball student-athlete Ellie Manderfeld.

Story by Mike Krizman, CCIW Assistant Executive Director

CHICAGO – Three-and-a-half years of officer training in the ROTC taught Ellie Manderfeld how to be a leader on the North Park University softball team. 

So when the Vikings' 2020 season was abruptly cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Manderfeld went to work putting those leadership lessons into action. She harped back to a metaphor learned during training and applied it to the adversity brought on by the pandemic. 

"Sometimes, you just don't get fed," Manderfeld mentioned. "It's a common thing to say that leaders eat last. Sometimes, they literally eat nothing at all. Whenever we're in chow hall, the officers eat last and they always have the shortest time to eat. If we're out in the field, the officers could go all day and not eat anything.

"It's one of those things where we put in so much preparation as a team and so much time and energy to make our season happen," Manderfeld continued. "But, sometimes you don't get fed, and that's something I tried to bring up a lot when our season was canceled."

Part of being a leader, Manderfeld learned, was to always stay up on your teammates; something she also took from her ROTC training. That included texting and calling teammates, checking in on their well-being, their education, as well as their family life.

"I always have to have personal connections with each member of the team," she said. "I take the time to get to know them and make sure they are doing well, because sometimes, things happen in life that can affect someon's concentration on the field, and it's important for a leader to be aware. That's what's pushed on us in the Army. We need to know our soldiers. We need to know their family situation. We need to have personal connections to show that we care. That way, everyone will buy into their leader."

For North Park head coach Katie Anderson, Manderfeld's leadership qualities are what every coach hopes to have on their team.

"It takes someone special, with incredible leadership qualities to be a captain three out of their four years of playing," Anderson said. "Ellie not only leads by example, but she has a way of empathizing with others, which allows her to build and gain trust from those around her. She has, and continues to hold our team to a higher standard, which has helped elevate and will continue to elevate our program for years to come."

Flight School

While in ROTC, Manderfeld learned the basics of how to be an officer. She graduated from the program this past spring and became a part of the Illinois National Guard. 

She requested aviation as her top choice of assignment, and upon graduation, learned that she was selected to attend flight school in the summer of 2021. After flight school, Manderfeld will be an aviation officer in the Illinois National Guard. During training, she wants to learn how to fly Black Hawk and Lakota helicopters.

But before flight school, Manderfeld will go through survival training, which will require her to adapt to a hostile environment and learn how to survive in the event of an emergency. 

"It's more or less learning to survive if your helicopter goes down in a foreign land or if you're taken as a prisoner of war," she said. "After that, it will be a straight six months of flight school."

Future Plans

Manderfeld graduated from North Park in May with a double major in graphic design and sports management. On top of being an ROTC member and a softball student-athlete, she interned as a sports information assistant with both North Park and the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) office, and was a member of the school's Student-Athlete Advisory Council.

She's also using this summer to coach the Minnesota Fastpitch Academy-Force from her native hometown of St. Cloud, Minn.

"Beyond the classroom and playing field, we want our Division III student-athletes to be great representatives of our institutions, our conferences, our divisions and the NCAA as a whole," Anderson said. "We want them to be respectful, kind, caring and seen as people who are going to leave a positive mark on the people they come in contact with throughout their lives. Ellie has worked with and impacted many people on our campus, and I have yet to find one who would not describe her in this manner. She is the epitome of everything we look for in an NCAA Division III student-athlete." 

Because Manderfeld's season was canceled last spring, she plans to take advantage of the NCAA's waiver and participate as a softball student-athlete in 2021 while attending graduate school at North Park. From there, her plans include staying in college athletics in either an administrative role or as a coach while also serving in the National Guard.

"I find both the administrative and coaching sides to be very interesting," Manderfeld said. "I enjoy the personal relationships that you develop with your players, but I also enjoy making graphics and working on the promotional side of athletics. I've got time to decide and look forward to seeing what the future holds."

CCIW Student-Athlete Spotlight
Ellie Manderfeld - North Park (July 2020)
Izaiah Webb - North Central (June 2020)
Tori Stuart - Millikin (May 2020)
Skylar LeVine - Illinois Wesleyan (April 2020)
Emily Clausen - Elmhurst (March 2020)
Colton Klein - Carthage (February 2020)
Michaela Johnson - Carroll (January 2020)
Luke Sawicki - Augustana (December 2019)
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst University (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL).